This invention relates generally to rocket nozzles, and, more particularly, to a nozzle ejection system in which an auxiliary inner nozzle can be reliably and economically ejected from the permanent outer nozzle of a rocket.
Rocket nozzles are generally of the converging-diverging de Laval type and are used to accelerate gases to high exhaust velocities during rocket propulsion. The size and geometry of the nozzle have a critical influence on rocket chamber pressure, thrust propellant flow, exhaust velocity and the variation of these parameters with altitude and with each other.
The efficiency of a typical convergent-divergent rocket nozzle is dependent upon the relationship between the exit area of a nozzle and the pressure of the atmosphere in which it is operating. In the ascending phase of rocket flight the atmospheric pressure changes rapidly. Thus, a nozzle having a fixed exit area will operate at optimum conditions for a brief period only. Many devices have been utilized in the past to control the exit area in the divergent portion of a nozzle. These devices have included complex and undependable linkages, intricate and delicate electronic mechanisms and a series of explosive bolts for securing additional nozzles. The systems referred to above, however, are either expensive, unreliable or greatly increase the overall weight of the rocket.